The author of this open letter addresses directly the young people of his land and of Europe, expressing his concern about what he considers to be a repetition of a historical script already experienced. The text acknowledges the legitimate frustrations of young people, including the difficulty in obtaining housing, insufficient salaries, and the perception that traditional institutions no longer meet their needs. However, the author warns that this anger, although understandable, is being channeled in the wrong direction.
The article alerts to the fact that the far-right is an expert at transforming people's real pain into a fast-consumption product, offering simple answers to complex problems. The author appeals to the analysis of History, reminding that no authoritarian or extremist movement came to power promising to destroy people's lives. All promised to save the homeland and protect the people against imaginary enemies. The author argues that when youth allows itself to be seduced by the discourse of hatred and exclusion, it is handing over its future to those who will not hesitate to silence its voice.
The text is specifically addressed to the sons and daughters of eastern Germany, referring to the victory of radical forces such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Saxony. The author highlights the painful irony of this situation, reminding that for decades the population of the former GDR lived under the suffocation of a communist regime, deprived of speech, of choice, and of the dignity of freedom. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world celebrated the triumph of democracy.
The author concludes that the illusion that the answer to the failures of the present lies in embracing the language of discrimination, of exacerbated nationalism, and of historical revisionism constitutes a tragic error. He argues that democracy is imperfect, slow, and often disappointing, but that the response to discouragement can never be the surrender to those who intend to dismantle the space where freedom exists.
